Pictures for Posterity
by Riiko Shea
Summary: They are searching for two specific people, but all these pictures, hidden away in regret and sorrow, have a story to tell.


**A/N: **Okay, so this is a very different piece from what a usually write. However, I've had part of this idea written for a while, and then another part of this in my head, and I didn't know what to do with either one- so I combined them and it spawned this!

So. Please let me know what you think with a review, and if you have any questions about who the characters are (because I don't use many specific names) I explain it in the bottom A/N.

Onward!

))((

**Pictures for Posterity**

The photos in the attic were dusty. They had been frantically removed, in a fog of tears and grief and regret, from houses struck by loss and desolation. They were a reminder of happier times, and no longer wanted by their owners.

As the dust is disturbed by two people, the pictures almost seem to whisper in their frames. They come from many places, but all have ended up here, in Godric's Hollow, hidden in decaying cardboard boxes among the broken toys, the old clothes, the keepsakes and the forgotten memories.

The boy kneels next to a box marked "Grimmauld's Place". He digs through the box carefully, his hands finally choosing a frame at random. He lifts it to his companion, a blonde girl, and they examine it together.

A tarnished silver frame showed two nearly identical black haired boys, in pressed robes, staring at the camera solemnly before breaking into goofy grins and wrapping arms around each other. The girl bites her lip and the boy takes his wand from his back pocket, points it at the picture, and whispers something.

Instantly, a scene blossoms out from the picture, and hovers over the photo.

_Two boys are ordered by a harsh female voice to "STAND STILL!" _

_They comply for a few moments, shifting slightly against itchy clothes as the photographer snaps away. Both make suitably solemn faces and face the camera as befitting young children of their kind._

_As the photographer pauses to change the film in the camera, the slightly taller boy whispers something to the boy next to him, and at the next click they fling arms around each other, grinning and laughing as their mother shrieks in frustration._

The scene, which shows what happened while the picture was being taken and is exposed using the spell, ends. The two look at each other. The taller boy is important, but he is not the one they seek. The boy looks at the picture a moment longer before placing it back carefully. He follows the blonde girl to the next box, an unmarked one.

She bends, this time, and selects another picture. It has two boys in it as well, one hanging over the other's back, both making a "V for victory" sign with their fingers. The boy shakes his head, but the girl is intrigued and drops to her knees. The boy smiles knowingly and kneels next to her, helping her look through the photos.

Underneath that wood-framed photo were others, almost all of the same two boys, then young men- red haired, grinning goofily, never solemn, except for one.

In this, they stood at the bedside of their first baby nephew, smiling sweetly down at the boy and looking at each other. The girl holds the picture, looking at it intently, and the boy casts the spell.

_The baby isn't crying right now, it's just breathing softly. A mobile of little dragons spins above the cradle as the two brothers stand together. One looks up at the other and smiles, whispering, "Look at this, we're uncles!" _

_The second grins, a single tear running down his face. "Well, we've just got to fight harder than ever, then. We've got to end this war...For this kiddie, and for his brothers and sisters."_

"_Of course," the first answers. "Of course. They'll be safe."_

The memory ends. The girl smiles and leans into the boy for a moment as he hugs her briefly before picking up the other picture they put to the side- one that shows two different boys, even though they look practically identical to the other two boys in the box. They're posing on their brooms, smirking mischievously and peeling away their shirts seductively before stopping and laughing, throwing their arms around each other.

The boy looks at the girl, who takes a deep breath and nods. The boy casts the spell.

"_All right you two, smile," a familiar female voice commands. The two boys floating on their brooms grin, and then, as one, slowly begin unbuttoning their shirts._

_There's an indignant screech as the voice shouts, "Don't you DARE, boys, and I mean it! This is for Auntie Muriel's Christmas card! I do NOT need a strip tease from you two!"_

"_Oh my gosh-"_

"_She said strip tease!"_

_The two collapse into laughter, ignoring the shouts from behind the camera to behave. _

The boy looks at the girl and grins. She smiles back, tucking the photo under her arm, and they move to the next box.

Box after box holds no one of interest- people they've heard of in passing, no one either teen really recognizes, until they find a box set towards the back, falling apart quietly in the dusty light.

The boy pulls out a photo that makes him double take. It's a shot that seems like it was supposed to be a private moment between a red-haired woman and a black-haired man. They're kissing, and his hands are drifting low down her back as her dig into his hair and pull him closer. Suddenly, they turn, the woman blushing and laughing and the man shaking a fist. The pair outside the frame look at each other and then the boy casts the spell.

_The woman clutches the man's head, and he moans slightly into her mouth as his hands drift. She whispers into his mouth, "I love you so, so much…"_

"_I love you too," the man whispers back, his eyes still closed, their bodies and mouths still pressed together. "I always have, from the beginning."_

"_He means it, too," comes a voice from behind the camera. "Right from first year when he still didn't even know about how wonderfully sexy you would turn out to be, Evans." _

_The couple whirls around to fully face the camera. The woman begins to laugh, and the man, grinning, shakes a fist. "You mutt! You interrupted me just as I was getting to the good part!"_

The pair blink as the memory fades. It's not a couple they know, but they know that these are important people. Together, they dig through the box, but find nothing. All of these photos are of the same couple, and none of them include anyone else.

The two search all day, but cannot find a single picture of the pair they are looking for, even separated. Finally, the boy slumps and moves to leave the attic, when the girl's cry and a tremendous crash make him whirl around, wand held at the ready.

The girl is staring at a stack of boxes that has toppled over. All were marked, "Clothes" but one of the boxes has opened, and pictures have spilled out. The boy rushes forward, and finally they find the pictures they're looking for.

The boy grasps at the first one he finds, and casts the spell.

"_No, no, no. I refuse." The man, sandy-haired and scarred, tugs away from the grasp of the pink-haired woman next to him._

"_Come on, now, please? It's for posterity," the woman laughs, wrapping her arms around his neck and dragging him down slightly to her height. Behind the camera, two laughs sound._

"_Aww, Professor, you can't ignore a plea like that… especially from such a lovely lady," says a voice. The woman smirks and winks at someone behind the camera as the man rolls his eyes._

"_I'd watch your tongue, mate, I'm way too much woman for you," the woman laughs, before turning her attention to her companion. "Please, please, please? Just one." She pouts at the man, who growls impatiently before seeming to give in._

"_You'd better catch this, boys, because I'm not doing it for you again," he snaps, and then dramatically dips the woman back, plastering his mouth to hers in a heated kiss. The boys cheer, and then, as the man releases the woman's mouth, he whispers, "Love you."_

"_Love you too," she murmurs back._

Three hours later, they've looked at every picture, and done the spell to a few more. The boy has alternately laughed and cried, and the girl has held him, watching segments of the lives of two people they never knew.

When they're called for dinner, the boy stands, picking up the first picture they found of the two black-haired boys and the one of the red-haired woman and black-haired man. He will share these with his godfather and the rest of his friends. But under his arm he also holds the first picture of the pink-haired woman and the scarred man, a picture that only he and his companion will know about. He helps up the blonde girl, who holds under her arm the pictures to share with her family, but also the two pictures of the red-haired men and their nephew, and the red-haired boys on their brooms; her own, private pictures.

"Thanks for the help," the boy whispers quietly. They've spoken in whispers all day, unwilling to break the almost sacred silence of the attic.

The girl smiles sweetly and leans up to kiss him gently. "No problem. Thanks for inviting me," she murmurs when they break apart. "It's nice to see what everyone was like."

Together, they exit, the boy looking around the room one more time before snapping off the light and shutting the door.

The dust resettles around the memories and the tears, the loss and the pictures nobody wants. But now that they've been disturbed, the pictures are no longer unwanted. They are no longer forgotten, and as the days go on, more people will come and visit them, rediscover old memories, and bring these pictures back to life.

**A/N: **Phew.

In case anyone could figure it out (even though I'm sure you are did) here's a list of characters.

The boy- Teddy Lupin

The girl- Victoire Weasley

Photo One:

The taller boy- Sirius Black

The shorter boy- Regulus Black

The woman- Walburga Black

Photo Two:

The first man- Gideon Prewett

The second man- Fabian Prewett

The baby- Bill Weasley

Photo Three:

The first boy to speak- George Wealsey

The second boy- Fred Weasley

The photographer- Molly Weasley

Photo Four:

The woman- Lily Evans-Potter

The man- James Potter

The photographer- Sirius Black

Photo Five:

The man- Remus Lupin

The woman- Nymphadora Tonks

The boy who speaks- Fred Weasley

The other boy- George Weasley

WHOOOOO. Finished. Wow. Lot more characters than I thought. XD

And one more note- Teddy can do the spell because it's the summer of before Victoire's seventh year- he's of age and has graduated from Hogwarts.

Okay, so please, please review!

))Riiko Shea((


End file.
